US Women's Soccer Star Alex Morgan Leaves Game on Stretcher

Alex Morgan, who has become the face of the United States women’s national soccer team with her clutch goals and talent, suffered a knee injury and was carried off the field in a stretcher Wednesday night while playing for the Portland Thorns in a NWSL game against the Boston Breakers. She will be further evaluated this week, though an initial exam seems to have ruled out an ACL tear.

The former Diamond Bar High School and Cal Berkeley star who is known as “baby horse” will be critical for the United States in the 2015 Women’s World Cup. She, along with Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe, helped lead the U.S. national team to a gold medal over Japan in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Japan had previously defeated the United States a a year before in a dramatic Women’s World Cup.

She left the game on a stretcher after she “injured her left knee in the 10th minute after colliding with the Breakers’ Jazmyne Avant.” Morgan later “returned and watched the remainder of the game from the sideline with a large brace on her left knee.”

Portland defeated the Breakers 2-1. It goes without saying a lot rides on Morgan’s knee for United States women’s soccer.